Bruised Hearts - Part II
Oliver sat beside Shane's bed for what seemed like hours. Sharon was resting, sitting in an overstuffed chair. She looked comfortable enough to doze off. The poor woman had cried herself to sleep. She must have been exhausted, thought Oliver.
Oliver, in his haste to get to the hospital didn't bother to get a reservation in one of the hotels in town. He had nowhere to go. Even if he did, they'd have to drag him away forcibly from Shane's side. He promised himself, no, he actually swore fervently to himself he'd never leave her alone in a strange place ever again. He made that mistake once already and he wasn't about to repeat it. Oliver was a man of his word!
He sat there, broken-hearted, looking at her injuries trying not to imagine the horrendous ordeal she must have gone through. The terrorising fear she must have felt. The pain! Did they use their fists on her? The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go after Steve and finish the job he had started earlier that evening. His anger was threatening to overwhelm him. His tears wouldn't stop running down his face and they were blinding him. Nurses came and went and Oliver hardly registered their presence. He couldn't take his eyes off Shane.
At that moment, he hated himself with a passion. While he had been feeling sorry for himself and accusing her of abandoning him, she had been fighting for her very life. She had been under unbelievable and vicious attack for 5 long weeks from evil, callous and unscrupulous men who would beat a defenceless woman to get information they could use to hurt others. He was disgusted with himself. He could feel the taste of hate in his mouth. Oliver had never experienced such violent emotions as he was feeling at that moment.
Despite all that, above all, he was immensely grateful to God they hadn't done her more serious harm… they could have killed her! He swallowed a sob when he thought Shane could be dead right now. He had no doubt if she hadn't been rescued when she was, they'd have killed her eventually. How strong she had to have been! What an amazing woman Shane was. He looked at her now, small, thin, emaciated, cut and bruised on the outside but what strength within that mangled body! He looked at her with even more admiration now than he thought was possible. If he had had any doubt of his love to Shane until now, at that moment is simply vanished. He loved her with all his heart in a most profound way.
The hours ticked by and he felt no hunger, no thirst, no desire to sleep or even close his eyes. He stared at Shane for hours while she slept peacefully. She had an intravenous line of fluids and electrolytes hooked up to her arm, along with two others; antibiotics and haemoglobin solution. All were designed to aid in her recovery from the trauma she suffered. Oliver suspected Shane was also heavily medicated for pain management because she had not stirred or moved at all since he first came in and sat down.
At one point Oliver felt tired so he laid his head on his folded arms resting on the side of the bed. He must have dozed off as he woke up to find a gentle hand touching and playing with his hair. At her touch, he looked up and her head was turned towards him. He couldn't tell if she could see him as both her eyes were swollen shut. He suspected she could as he saw the corners of her mouth turn up slightly in a tiny attempt at a smile. "Oliver!" Her voice was reduced to a very raspy whisper. Immediately he saw a tear run down towards her ear from one of her closed eyes. He sucked in a sob, grabbed hold of her hand and kissed it again and again. He didn't bother to hold back his tears. He sobbed openly, unashamedly! He kept telling her how sorry he was and he was never going to leave her alone ever again. "Oliver!" She said softly, "It's not your fault, Oliver." "Yes, it is." He said brokenly. "I should never have let you go. Why should I trust anybody with my most precious gift?" Her tears increased and her smile was slightly more visible. "Am I your gift?" She sounded as if she was teasing him. He was amazed she could have a sense of humour at a time like this. "Shane McInerney, you are most definitely my gift, and one that I will never share… ever again!" Shane turned slightly away and seemed to fall to sleep again, as she became very quiet and still. Before long though, she turned to him again and asked, now with a quivering lower lip. "Am I hideous looking? Are you disgusted?" He looked at her with his eyes brimming full of love; wanting, willing her to know she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He reached up, touched her face tenderly and said, "Shane, you will have to do better than this if you want to be hideous. I can't seem to stop touching you! How is it possible you're so enticing to me right now?" He smiled at her and continued talking, still sniffling back the tears. "You are now and will always be the most beautiful and entrancing woman of my acquaintance." He started kissing her hand again. Then he turned her hand around with her palm facing him and started kissing it slowly and deliberately. Shane sucked in a breath as he was kissing it in a most sensual way. She twisted her hand free from his grip and slid it slowly to the back of his head, digging her fingers into his hair as she had done when he first kissed her all those months ago. He remembered it very well. He closed his eyes and moaned. Then he leaned forward and gently touched her lips with his. It was just a little peck, the gentlest touch possible as he didn't want to hurt her split lips any further, but they both felt the electricity jolt of that simple and quick kiss most profoundly.
Then they both heard a sound and looked to the other side of the room. Oliver was surprised as he had completely forgotten that Sharon was still sitting there. She looked at them with a wry smile on her face. "Don't mind me." She said with a twinkle in her eyes. Oliver felt his face burn and tried to let Shane's hand go but she held on to it with a strength that surprised him, despite the fact that she looked like the smallest of breezes could sweep her away. "Mom?" Shane was genuinely surprised to see her and a tiny bit annoyed with the interruption at that exact moment. Sharon got up and walked to the other side of Shane's bed. She took her other hand, held it, kissed it and said with a broken sob: "Oh, my baby. I'd do anything to swap places with you right now." Shane was feeling much better than her appearance indicated as she was cracking jokes unexpectedly. "Right now? That would be rather disconcerting, mom." She said with a smile in her voice. Sharon laughed out loud. "Yes, I can see that." She said looking at Oliver pointedly.
Oliver looked extremely uncomfortable as if he wished he could just disappear into a crack in the floor right now. He cleared his throat awkwardly and disentangled his hand from Shane's. He got up and said. "I will leave you ladies to catch up for a bit. I'm going to get a coffee. Do you need anything, Sh… umm… Ms. McInerney?" He asked looking down at her. She replied with no hesitation, "Just you!" He smiled lovingly at her, grabbing her hand and kissing it again, although this time in a much less provocative way and whispered, "I'll be right back." Then he asked Sharon if she wanted a coffee or something. She just shook her head.
Oliver's relief as he stepped out of the room was tangible. How could he lose control like that in front of Mrs. McInerney? His face got all flushed and warm again as he thought about Shane. The little imp! He thought, smiling to himself. He had missed her so much.
"How are you, my baby?" Sharon asked. Shane, all of a sudden felt exhausted but she squeezed her mom's hands and replied. "I'm so glad to be here, mom. I never thought I'd make it through my nightmare." Then she sighed almost contentedly and went back to sleep. When Oliver came back with a coffee and a muffin in hand, Sharon said: "Oliver, I think I'm going to head off to my hotel now. I can see Shane will probably sleep for hours now and I'm exhausted. I'll be back in the morning." Oliver nodded and looked on his pocket watch. It was almost 2am. "Good idea, Mrs. McInerney, although it's already morning. Where are you staying?"
"At the Silver Spring, downtown."
"Could you do me a favour and book me a room there as well? I will go and have a little rest once you come back in the morning. We will take turns."
"Good idea, Oliver. I'll see you in the morning. Good night then." "Good night." Oliver replied and moved the chair Sharon had been sitting on next to Shane's bed and made himself comfortable.
He looked at Shane who was sleeping peacefully. Despite her cuts and bruises, she had a look of peace about her that warmed Oliver's heart. His heart again swelled with gratitude as he prayed before dozing off: "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing Shane back to us. Thank you for preserving her life. Please continue to help her get her strength back. Heal her body, her mind and her spirit. Keep her from depression. Take away the memories from the last 5 weeks and replace them with joyful new ones. Help me to appreciate and love her as she deserves. Use me to bring her endless happiness as she does to me. I pray in your precious name. Amen"
